AT THIS juncture, it is very important to bear in mind that the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water launched the Green Technology Policy on 24th July 2009. The Green Technology is defined is the development and application of products, equipment and systems used to conserve the natural environment and resources, which minimises the negative impact of human activities. Green Technology refers to products, equipment or systems which satisfy the following criteria:
(i) It minimises the degradation of the environment;
(ii) It has zero or low green house gas (GHG) emission. It is safe for use and promotes healthy and improved environment for all forms of life;
(iii) It conserves the use of energy and natural resources; and
(iv) It promotes the use of renewable resources.
(“National Green Technology Policy”, published by KeTTHA, 2009 – Appendix 17)
The Four Pillars of Green Technology Policy are:
(i) Energy – Seek to attain energy independence and promote efficient utilisation;
(ii) Environment – Conserve and minimise the impact on the environment;
(iii) Economy – Enhance the national economic development through the use of technology; and
(iv) Social – Improve the quality of life for all.
(“National Green Technology Policy”, published by KeTTHA, 2009 – Appendix 17)
In 2008 through 2009, approximately RM 2 billion contracts has been awarded by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Rural and Regional Development to supply electricity to remote areas in Sabah and Sarawak by using the solar hybrid system. The hybrid solar system uses lead acid battery for the storage of electricity, which is the traditional energy storage solution.
However, the normal life span of a lead acid battery is only about a year. Therefore, the lead acid battery will have to be changed or substituted every year to ensure the continuous supply of electricity via this system is not disrupted. Hence, approximately RM300-500 million was spent to supply lead acid battery to support the hybrid solar system.
We are dealing with the supply of 3-5 million units of lead acid battery into the State of Sabah and Sarawak per annum. Each battery contains approximately 17 kilogram of lead. If we were to take a figure of 4 million batteries are supplied, it is equivalent to utilising 68 million kg or 68,000 tons of lead per annum for the State of Sabah and Sarawak to see through the continuous implementation of the hybrid solar system.
For the 10th Malaysia Plan (RMK10), RM6.4 billion has been allocated for the rural electrification in Sabah and Sarawak. Hundreds of millions will also be spent on Orang Asli settlements (rural electrification). If lead acid batteries are still the chosen storage medium, how much more lead poisoning will occur?
The major components of lead acid battery are lead and sulphuric acid, which are well known hazardous substances. Malaysia is a party to the Basel Convention (1993) which was intended to:
(i) Reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations;
(ii) Minimise the amount and toxicity of wastes generated; and
(iii) Ensure environmentally sound management of wastes. What is appalling is that the hybrid solar system which relied upon the usage of lead acid battery for the storage of electricity was continued in direct contravention of the National Green technology Policy.
To make things worse, it is very important to note that there is almost none “lead recycling plant” set up in Sabah or Sarawak. As such, where does the used lead acid battery goes? How do they dispose these 3 to 5 million units of used lead acid batteries? Was it dumped in landfills or the rivers or recycled at the backyard? The result of the test carried out on children in the West Coast of Sabah in 1996 and 1997 reveals the existence of lead poisoning.
With the additional 3 to 5 million per annum of lead acid battery that is being brought into the State of Sabah and Sarawak to support the hybrid solar system, how many more children do we intend to expose to lead poisoning that could be caused by the improper/wrongful disposal of the used lead acid battery. What happened to the used lead acid batteries that were replaced is unknown?
It is sad to note that most of the hybrid solar system has since failed due to poor maintenance. The used lead acid battery is not properly disposed off. In most cases, they were left lying either within a corner of the house of the ‘kampong folks’ or on the ground near the house exposing the whole household to the danger of lead poisoning emanating from the used lead acid battery (Refer to Appendix 18).
Things don’t seem to change for better even while KLLW is now run by a Sabah born Minister. The sin committed by the previous management is now continued by this Sabahan Minister, Mohd. Shafie Apdal, at the perils of the Sabahan children. The fate of the next generation of Sabah, and Sarawak too, is in great danger with the presence of 3 to 5 millions units of lead acid battery per annum and which increases by the same number every year to replace the old units to support the solar hybrid system.
Why must the Sabahans and Sarawakians pay the price of being exposed to lead poisoning in the name of development? Whose interest is the Federal Government looking at, the children, folks and the community of the rural area in Sabah and Sarawak or the corporate sector who is supplying the hybrid solar system? The 3 to 5 million used lead acid battery which is the residue of the hybrid solar system operation per annum will continue to increase every year.
This will undoubtedly constitute a large deposit of chemical threats and can be life threatening to the Sabahan and Sarawakian who comes into contact with the lead poisoning which emanates from the said used lead acid battery. If a large number of Sabahan and Sarawakian children suffers mental disorder, or lower IQ ability and other internal organs malfunction, what is to become of their next generation? This makes a mockery of the 1Malaysia slogan launched by the Honourable Prime Minister.
In contrast, the European Union has in its European Parliament Directive on Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) stated that effective July 1, 2006, if any electrical and electronic equipment contains
(i) Lead;
(ii) Mercury;
(iii) Hexavalent chrome;
(iv) Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs);
(v) Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE); or
(vi) Cadmium,
it must NOT be put on the European Market. Similar restrictions have been adopted by most other countries in the world. To meet obligations under the Basel Convention, Malaysia, using the Environmental Quality Act 1976, has:
(i) By the 1996 Amendment Act [Act A953] inserted Section 34B which regulates the movement of any scheduled wastes; and
(ii) Included lead acid batteries within the meaning of scheduled wastes via First Schedule of the Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations 2005 [P.U.(A) 294/2005].
However, compared to the RoHS Directive of the European Union, products containing lead acid battery continue to reach into our homes affecting our children and us to lead poisoning. The Department of Environmental should take a drastic step to regulate or totally ban the usage of lead acid battery which can directly harm the health and lives of any person from lead poisoning in line with the Green Technology Policy.
It is disbelieving to see that KeTTHA is promoting Green Technology while the DOE is issuing licenses to operators to import lead bullion, lead acid battery and used lead acid battery into Malaysia and operate lead recycling. It in turn resulted in the stockpiling of lead into our country.
The recycling of lead releases lead into the air while the landfill of used lead acid battery or the waste of lead recycling could pollute the underground water thus exposing the risk of lead poisoning to the people. This is truly contrary to the 1Malaysia slogan that is “People First, Achievement Now.”
Presently, Sabah is doing very well in eco-tourism which contributes an income of approximately RM4 billion per annum with the figure increasing by each year. If lead poisoning is not contained and gets worse due to the increasing number of lead acid batteries brought into the State for the hybrid solar systems and with no proper and safe mechanism for its disposal provided, this eco tourism stands to be at risk, affecting the State and the country’s lucrative source of revenue.
CONCLUSION
Most countries in other part of the world have take back laws which offer a money incentive per battery. In terms of the consciousness we are trying to raise, people have the belief that solar and hybrids are all clean and green, but the truth in the matter is all of these technologies which are reliant on lead batteries (many purchased from overseas) are a huge problem for the environment. It serves more as a huge source of global pollution.
The best thing that we can do is to replace the use of lead acid battery with green battery which is safe and clean for human use and environmentally friendly (“BEST Battery Program Aims to Reduce Lead Battery Poisoning in Asia” published by Planet Green, 01 January 2009 – Appendix 2).
As lead possesses no biological value, its exposure is best kept as low as possible. It displaces other metals from the normal binding sites to produce some of its biochemical changes. Ideally, the blood lead concentration should be zero. In this instance, zero is the most valued figure. Lead poisoning in children is totally preventable.
Generally, we can just remove the lead from the child's environment and the problem will comfortably be confined. However, this problem is still not resolved since it was first encountered almost 40 years ago and the solution has never been easy. An accurate assessment of lead poisoning in children would be quite difficult due to the variable bioavailability of lead in the environment.
Hence this predicament is best summed up with this notable expression: "prevention is better than cure" (“Lead Exposure and the IQ of Children” published by The Sun, 17 October 1995, quoted by the National Poison Centre, 2008 – Appendix 5).
Lead poisoning is a long-standing problem. For Malaysia, it is an issue that remains to be addressed in the larger context of protecting childhood health. The obstacle is no longer due to the lack of technology or expertise, since ways of dealing with the problem are already well-documented; rather it is a question of political will and the ability to effectively enforce and upgrade the existing laws. It may be worthwhile to recount the experience almost a decade ago when the government introduced legislation to reduce lead content in petrol to a level of 0.15 gm/ml in 1986. This was followed by the introduction of unleaded petrol soon after. As a result it was reported that there was a brief downward trend in atmospheric lead in urban centres in the country.
At present, Malaysia lacks a comprehensive coordinated approach to deal with the problem of environmental lead, lead exposure and lead poisoning in one go. An overall national strategy - namely of screening, treating, educating, researching - to eradicate lead poisoning among children in particular is timely as we can no longer afford to underestimate the hidden cost to our society of this pervasive poison.
By eliminating lead as much as possible from the lives of our children, we are at once taking remedial steps to proactively reduce a significant proportion of school failures, delinquent behaviour and ultimately impaired productivity in adulthood, apart from lead-related diseases.
No comments:
Post a Comment